blacklist

I'm a mormon

2012-02-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of the ad campaign that the church has been doing lately. I know the church is really named The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but so many people recognize the term "mormons"—they are really using the label in a smart way these days. I'll admit it was a little shocking (in a good way) to see a cab drive past with a "I'm a mormon" ad on top instead of the usual questionable gentleman's club ad. I finally filled out my mormon.org profile and it's pretty neat! In working with the kids at church it's good to see that there is a tool for doing missionary work though their social networking sites now. As more and more social interaction moves to digital media missionary tools have to evolve to keep up. It's a little daunting when you start thinking about it but also really cool that there are so many new ways to stand for your beliefs.

Website updated!

2012-01-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

So I finally got around to updating my portfolio website. Books take forever to put together so there's not a massive amount of new work but you can see pages from my Halloween special and the new Entertaining book. You can also check out a more complete shot of how Trent's album packaging turned out. Here's to a new year and to working on a new exciting book that I can't tell you about yet and yes, I am totally milking that cliffhanger ending.

Success! x2

2011-12-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

Two exciting things to report today.

1. Makenzie's album got completely funded! Thank yous to all that helped in any way—we had some scary moments there when she was three thousand dollars and three days away from the end! We are super super excited she pulled through. This means Trent will start working on some smashing instrumentation and I will start designing albums and music videos. I'll keep you posted—we should have some really awesome things to brag about in the future!

2. Entertaining is Numbero Uno in its catagory on the Indie Holiday Bestseller List. When I first read this I went "what the heck? Entertaining was sooooooo not indie!" but this refers to independant book sellers which is really exciting because I LOVE them. This means they are selling this book for the full $75 even when it's available at a discount online. Take that Amazonian Empire! Not that I have anything against Amazon, but with Borders out of the game there is not a lot of competition for the remaining big box booksellers. And Besides mom and pop bookstores are so magical! Anywhoo I'll get off my soapbox now and just say YAY. It's been a good year.

Modcloth try 2

2011-12-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

Okay how about this one? I love love love the long skirt and you could totally get away with a cap sleeve shirt underneath. You might not even be able to tell it's not attached! AND it's on sale. Yes?

REISS

2011-12-09T10:26:00.001-08:00

So I'm on a continual mission to find dresses that don't need two things under and two things over to wear in public—some of you might have picked up on this by now! I just love the idea of throwing on a gorgeous dress and not having to mess up the design of it with one of those modesty tanktops. As much as they are a great invention I feel like in this day and age I should be able to find what I want! Well folks I have to say I'm getting pretty close with this latest store. I don't know if this is just a seasonal thing but REISS is rocking the sleeved-knee-length-awesome look. You didn't even know that was a look did you? NEITHER DID I...until now. Apparently Kate Middleton does a lot of shopping here and while I find her a little white bread, you've got to give the girl some props for playing the modesty card as a personal style. Check out these dresses from their website!

Too good to be true? Well it kind of is. These are all pretty pricy. They do have sales though—I'm tempted by this one:

Which is almost in the affordable range. Especially now that I waited too long and the modcloth dress is sold out. *sigh* There is something comforting in knowing they exist though isn't there?

“Young Marine” by Makenzie Caine

2011-12-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a video my man and Makenzie doing one of the songs he arranged with her. I loved his idea of making this one kind of Johnny Cash. And he actually wore pants that were not baggy for this! I know— so much to celebrate.

Oh and she's still looking for support for her kickstarter campaign so
check it out!

M O D E S T D R E S S A L E R T

2011-12-03T20:59:00.001-08:00

Oh man! I'm drooling over this dress at Modcloth . I'm really thinking about dropping the $130 (ouch). The only thing holding me back is the thought of that Christmas present bill. But REALLY PEOPLE. It has sleeves. It looks AWESOME with sleeves. It's a 40 inch skirt which is long enough on us "statuesque" ladies...awwww man I'm talking myself into it.....

Another day at the office...

2011-11-30T10:40:00.001-08:00

There are a lot of floors and studio spaces in the building I work in. We're right on the hudson and have some pretty great views out the enormous windows. Seems Beyonce thinks it's pretty great too because SHE SHOT THIS VIDEO IN OUR BUILDING. We don't know when or exactly where in the building this happened, but it looks just like she was dancing in our photo studios here at martha....weird!

Support Makie and Trent's new project!

2011-11-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

Trent has been working with our really talented friend Makenzie Cain. She just started a kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the album they are putting together. Trent and I helped with this silly video. Those are our arms you'll see in the background there—actually my head makes an accidental appearance too if you are watching closely! Take a minute to check it out. Every dollar helps plus I've got some really great ideas for her album art so let's make it happen!

Prepare to be Entertained!

2011-11-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

The book I spent my first year at Martha Stewart working on is officially out! This is Martha's sequel years later to her first book which was also called Entertaining. It's a gorgeous beast of a book, over 400 pages of her parties and recipes.

I went to the release party at Bergdorf Goodman's last week. Martha was signing away all night and we got to try an array of appetizers from the book, it was fun to taste all these things I've spent so many hours staring at! Here are some pictures from Kevin Sharky's Blog

And YES that IS my left side in the background of that last one There. You can also watch Jay Leno page through the book here

This seems so surreal to me! PS. It is not a full five pounds Jay. I had to weigh it the other day.

The Birth of Our First Child

2011-10-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ha! Made you look. Trent and I have created something beautiful together though. Drum-roll please....Trent's album is officially out! This creative pregnancy is a little backwards as he did most of the carrying. After years and years of writing, recording, editing, and mixing the album is finally done. I'm super excited to be able to post THIS LINK to itunes. Go check out that lovingly assembled album cover (my own little contribution) and feel free to give it a good rating, preview the songs or heck buy one or two! Reviews appreciated! I would especially recommend Ignition just so you can hear Trent's epic hi-register note that he sings. It's also available on CD Baby and Amazon and we did print a few hundred physical copies that we will be sending out as thank-yous to his supporters over the years. I'll try and post some pics so you can see the design in all of it's glory.

Sorry for freaking you out Mom but I couldn't help myself >:)

Question of the Month: Wisdom from the Lunchbox

2011-09-30T10:26:00.001-07:00

Why are potstickers So delicious....and yet so stinky?

I guess like many things in life maybe you have to suffer a little for the things that are worth it?

Flash from the Past

2011-09-26T15:07:00.001-07:00

Dana Dorian - Age Of Empires from Flaunt Productions on Vimeo.

I can't help it, I love this for oh so many different nerdy reasons!

New Sister!

2011-09-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

So this is kinda after the fact but I finally russled up some pictures from Shawn's wedding this summer. I stole them off of facebook, one of Kelsey's (my first sister-in-law!) friends actually took them. It was gorgeous though and they looked adorable. Shawn continued the Blackham men's tradition of singing/playing for the bride and darn it was cute. I still prefer Trent's rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" but hey, I'm biased.

Homemade Oreos..life will never be the same again...

2011-09-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

New York has turned me into a food snob, it's true, but once in awhile I can't help indulging in something processed and fattening from my childhood...Cheetos....Corn Dogs....pretty much anything that comes prepackaged and frozen from Costco, etc. One of these evil little pleasures has been those darn Oreos. I can't help it. What is it about that little salty/sweet/stale cookie that makes me want to eat a whole sleeve in one sitting!? I don't even care that they tend to stick in you gumline afterwards (yeah I'm sure Trent loves that). Well friends, listen up because I've found something even more addicting if at all possible:HOMEMADE OREOSThey are Amazing! With a capital A! I needed a chocolate fix over the weekend and alas we were out of pretty much everything. I found this recipe online and now I'm hooked even though they do have Crisco in them. I still figure they are better then the store bought kind and I am determined to find some kind of Crisco alternative people! The recipe is from a blog I'd never visited before, the picture above is from there too, mine didn't look as pretty but man did they make up for that in taste! Scroll down to the bottom of the blog for the recipe. And let me know if you make them. I'm freaking out about how good they are but I'd be curious to know if it's just me.

It's that time of year again!

2011-09-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

...almost. Most of you are still holding on to the last of the warm weather but I spent the better part of my summer working on the Halloween special issue. I'm please to say that I'm officially a new mama. Or as close as I am going to be to that for quite some time. Due to some disruption in our department hierarchy I had to close this issue myself....BY myself that is. This thing is a big chunk of my work and I hope you all love it so much you can't help but have a halloween filled with coffin shaped brownies and tinfoil space costumes. On my trip to Alaska last week I spied this in the airport! There she blows!

Ps. I wrote my first cover line in this issue. Normally not the domain of the art director but my "introducing Motha the winged wonder" made the cut weirdly enough. I guess all those Godzilla movies were good for something Blake!

"Boom Haiku Response"

2011-09-09T11:27:00.001-07:00

...yeah we're related.

Happy News

2011-08-30T11:04:00.001-07:00

We are happy and safe after the hurricane this weekend. The basement is a little worse for wear (it floods easily) but I think we might be getting that horrible carpet taken out now so that's a plus. We could see the runoff colvert behind our complex rapidly rising Saturday night and we able to get most everything valuable up out before the water got in. Guitars and portfolio items are all safe and dry!

Also my favorite design studio Invisible Creature is doing this cool thing where they miss getting things snail mail so if you send them a self addressed and stamped envelope they will fill it with mystery goodies and send it back to you! Genius! Read the particulars here Man I love those guys!

Finally! Disney Does Something Right!

2011-08-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

But I guess when you get right down to it they are just recycling content again. Regardless I love this.

Aloha!

2011-08-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I had the chance to perform in a Luau that my Friend Kypo put together for a missionary event. I didn't think that I'd have the chance to do Polynesian dance again after BYU! Who would have thought I'd get to dance in a show! Kypo is Hawaiian and he thought that Kypo and Jessi sounded weird so he insisted on calling me Uluwehi. He doesn't mess around with Luaus. So now I officially have a Tahitian princess alter ego. Like Beyonce! Uluwehi is my Sasha Fierce. And I got to wear the skirt with the tassels which I've wanted to do FOREVER! It was kind of a big deal for me so I am sharing it with you all!

The sister missionaries did my hair, they were so cute and got really excited about it. This is the second time. Kypo thought the first one wasn't big enough.

The last number was this really beautiful hula that is all about the connection between families and from generation to generation. My camera died while I was dancing so I can't post that one but you can see a gorgeous version here. You should all check it out!

Office Space!

2011-08-10T11:13:00.001-07:00

So I can't really take pictures at work due to the stuff that is hanging all over the place. Wouldn't want someone to steal our ideas! So I was really excited about this article that has a sideshow of the office. The image above is the office right across from my desk!

I think it's easy to take for granted that I work in such a great place. I come to the same desk every day and zone in to the computer screen. This article reminded me to appreciate how beautiful our space here is AND the fact that I get to eat cake frequently. Who could complain?

No Caption Needed

2011-07-18T10:26:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or does Becca look like Ian Astbury?

One Day On Earth

2011-07-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a project worth supporting. DISCLAIMER *This video made me a little teary this morning so watch out* What a beautiful way to illustrate what this life is all about. People. Their decisions, their relationships, their beliefs. The news lately has been pretty doom and gloom and there is a lot of really messed up stuff going on in the world. It's nice to watch something every now and then that makes you happy to be living and reminds you that we are privileged to be here. Yes life is hard and messy and stressful but it's supposed to be and those things shape us into the people we are. It's awesome (and I mean that in the traditional usage) and humbling to be reminded of that we are all tiny but important parts of a bigger plan here.

If you agree the project is looking for funding at kickstarter.

Jessi vs. The Vintage Round 2

2011-07-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

So some of you know about my recent attempt to validate this trend calling talent I have by buying a pair of vintage high waisted seventies bell bottoms before the trend hit. (PS check out H&M's pants this spring) A lot of you still don't believe I have a sixth sense for this but I keep telling Trent about things that are going to come out and then they totally do and he is a believer now. Anyways I bought a gorgeous pair of vintage jeans. Almost perfect condition, they even had the tags on still:

It was an excellent plan except for one tiny flaw. Apparently GAP has skewed my idea of how women's sizes work so much that what I thought was my size is really three sizes too small. Go figure. There was no way I was going to fit into those jeans without significant cosmetic surgery. If any of you are in the market for a really fabulous pair of jeans in about a size 4 let me know.

Fast forward to now. Trent's brother is getting married in August and I need a dress. And it has to be a bright summery dress so that makes my wardrobe of black and gray out of the question. After weeks of looking at things that were probably too short or would need a shirt under or over I decided to give vintage another shot. I mean ALL of shabby apple's dresses are pretty much just vintage inspired anyway right? Why not get the real thing? I picked out three for the same price as one new shabby apple remake and made sure they would all fit generously. Worst case scenario I can take something in right? SO here they are:

They are in the mail as we speak, stay tuned to find out if I actually can pull this off! Now to find a really great belt...

Our Friend Tessa

2011-06-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Tessa is in our ward. She's awesome but you already knew that if you've seen this. Good job Mormon Church people for making this movie beautiful and sincere!

It's very surreal to see something like this about people that you know and interact with frequently. You hear all the time about people's touching cancer stories but I've never really made that connection that they are real people with interests and lives outside of that. It's changed my perspective. FYI she's in remission now and her hair is back. She actually looks awesome with a pixie cut!

Three Years ago in a galaxy far far away.....

2011-06-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it's been three whole years. There have been some ups and downs for sure but we are so happy to be here now! Living life with your best friend is fun. You should all try it.

It strikes me I should say something about the symbolism of the railroad reaching off into the distance.....and then again maybe not.

A Gratuitous Glorification Ping Pong

2011-05-19T07:45:00.001-07:00

Sooyeon Lee: Grand Slam on Nowness.com.

Media Polarization Makes Us All Look Like Idiots.

2011-04-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

These two stories were side by side in my news feed yesterday. There's something for those who don't care and something for the fanatics but what about those of us who are mildly interested? This seemed like a great illustration of something that I keep seeing over and over again in the media and in politics. It's all about extremes. You never hear from the less vocal majority. I think the polarization of our media is a major cause of dissension and hate among our nation in general. We only hear about the extremists because that's what gets the headlines some attention. Look at what this has done to Muslims, heck look what this has done to Mormons! This fixation on extremes promotes misunderstanding rather than helping us to have empathy for where another person is coming from.

Sorry for the rant. Just had to get it off my chest.

Trent's Latest aka The Unamed Band Project

2011-04-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Does unnamed have two n's? Anyways, Trent and our friend Makenzie played at a little local show this weekend. Makenzie has a fabulous voice and you all know that Trent is half a rock star already so needless to say it was great! Will there be more in the future? Will a certain drummer husband we've heard a lot about become involved!? Will Jessi ever start practicing again so that she can fulfill her childhood dream of playing the bass?!?! Those are questions. Stay tuned to find out the answers. In the meantime check out this video that was featured on Bloomfield's Patch page.

Seems It plays automatically which could be construed as annoying. If I knew how to fix it, rest assured, I would. In the meantime however I will assume your desire to hear Trent perform outweighs the annoyance you will feel when you try to read this post in the library and everyone gives you dirty looks for the noise coming out of your speakers. You should be doing your homework anyway. :)

Martha Giveaway Month

2011-04-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

To mark the Martha Stewart Show's 1000th episode they are doing an intense month of giveaways. You know how I love a good freebie so I was quite disappointed that employees and their families are not eligible. Sorry Mom! Anyhoo, thought some of you might like to know. And how about a special prize from me for anyone out there who wins something for my mom since it's my fault she can't enter? Custom business cards anyone?

Trent on Trent

2011-04-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

"My hair is kind of a big deal if you haven't figured that out yet."

He said this the other day and he was completely serious.

You can call me Master of the Expedition.

2011-04-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

So a little while ago a blog I read did a article on this promo that National Geographic channel is doing for their Expedition week. They built a miniature set with a webcam on a train track and hid "artifacts" in it. Visitors can take a turn controlling the train and can take pictures of things. If you take a picture of an artifact they send a prize to your house! How cool is that? So creative. I've been a little addicted to it lately and TODAY I WON!!!! Check it out.

I took a picture of the whale and now they are sending me a book about the ocean instead of a real whale—which probably better for all of us involved (me, Trent, NatGeo and Nice Whale). If any of you need help finding whales in the future you know where to find me.

Quote of the Day

2011-03-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

The life of a designer is a life of fight against the ugliness.

-Massimo Vignelli

Awesomeness!

2011-03-21T06:51:00.001-07:00

I'm craving their shakes! This is from my friend Adam's blog. He's the guy that shot all the beautiful photography of my portfolio. His blog is lots of fun. Trent and can't help but love this animated gif fad. If you don't know what those are then you should definitely check out his blog. It's super easy to do and looks pretty wild!

The wearin o' the green!

2011-03-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

An Ode to Becca

2011-02-24T10:55:00.001-08:00

Becca knows I suck
at remembering birthdays
and I still love her.

Becca.

Your birthday occurred recently. I found out when you posted the pictures of the party that your real friends threw for you. I even called you last weekend about something totally unrelated to birthdays. I even thought as I was calling you I need to look up when your birthday is because I really have no idea and I might miss it. You weren't on facebook so I couldn't even look it up. I still don't know for sure. You called me on my birthday. I am lame.

Please accept this blog post containing an original Haiku as my apology.

Twister takes THE DIELINE

2011-02-17T10:23:00.001-08:00

I've been freaking out a little about this so most of yall have probably already heard but my CKYK Twister redesign was recently featured on the packaging blog The Dieline. This was a blog I went to a lot for inspiration during those packaging class days so it's pretty awesome to see things come full circle. Thanks to Adam Grimshaw for the lovely photography. And thanks to everyone for being excited with me!

Love and dinosaurs. Two amazing things.

2011-02-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

Currently in the midst of a dinosaur drawing obsession. Cheers!

Thanks ED

2011-02-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

Esther sent me the link to this amazing video. So, so, so amazing. The gestures are so spot on that there are moments when the characters feel so real and easy to understand. Ryan teaches at BYU and is the king of gesture. He's most famous for his work on the spiderman movies. The bell tower scene with the venom suit in the third movie was his concept work. This really did make me tear up a bit at work. The body is so amazing! Maybe this is should be my inspiration to get back into figure drawing.

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

Question for you all...

2011-02-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hi there friends. So today I was really awesome and did some updates to my website that I've been putting off for awhile. One of them involves a new system to put the fonts I want on there. In the past that's been hard because it used to rely on what you had installed on your computer. This new system lets me pick the font and lets you see it. Only problem is that it's quite new and only works on some versions of some browsers. I'm curious to see how many of you see the new version and how many see the old. Could you check it out and let me know?

www.jessicablackham.com

Here's what the old version looks like:

The new should look like this:

You can click those images to enlarge. I know it seems like a tiny change but you know how us designers are about that kind of thing. Thanks all!

Sighted...Trent's Nose!

2011-02-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

So today I listened to a podcast on Lord Byron. Interesting character to say the least. Being the visually oriented person that I am I had to google a picture of him after hearing about how good looking he was. I did so and agreed, looked pretty good to me. But that's where things got weird. He was attractive bizarrely familiar way. Then it hit me:

He has Trent's nose.

Or maybe more accurately; Trent has Byron's nose.

Crazy! I mean the guy was not exactly the most upstanding person but hey. The nose of a Victorian playboy with notorious good looks and some pretty great poetry? That's awesome. Maybe a distant relation? I guess I get the best of both worlds though because he got the looks but not any of the adulterous or spousal abusive tendencies! See for yourself.

Byron

Byron's Nose

Trent (sorry for the dorky picture it was all I had at the right angle. The hair is a story for another time...)

Trent's Cute Snoz

Tragedy Involves Carl

2011-01-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

Our new moose friend Carl was brought to an untimely end last week in Anchorage. He was struck by a car which broke both his back legs. Officer Josh Lamb responded to the scene and when Carl failed to get up, was forced to put the moose out of his misery. We can only be glad that he was spared the truma of a bear or wolf doing the deed. Carl, though we question your intelligence level, we are sad you're gone. You got dad to run faster than any of us thought possible. Next Christmas we will fondly think of you running free in the great strawberry patch in the sky.

I composed a limerick for the occasion:

We had a young Moose Friend named Carl,
He got himself into a gnarl.
Stuck in the back yard,
Dad made his life hard.
Rest in peace our dear Moose Friend Carl.

Alaska 2010

2011-01-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

It's still there! And It's as beautiful as ever. We loved spending the holidays in the great white north. There was snow and food and family and friends. No other place has really felt like home like Anchorage. It was amazing to have my whole family back together again.

The baby moose got stuck in our back yard for a few days and couldn't seem to find his way out. I named him Carl. I miss Alaska!

Comic Sans Criminal

2011-01-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

This website made my day. Hilarious! And True!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T17:16:00.000-08:00

Love and best wishes for the new year!

If Trent had my job....

2010-12-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Tried something quazi-adventurous the other night for dinner. Stuffed shells with spinach. There was this really cool thing in everyday food this month for filling shells. You fill a ziploc bag and then cut off the end and use it to pipe the filling in. It worked like a charm and looked really cool so I had Trent take some pictures. Let's just say it's a good idea to listen to the one who gets paid for art directing in situations such as these. Trent had another idea. Here are the best of the photos:

At least one of them had the pasta in it. You'll just have to imagine the magic ziploc trick. Oh and yes, Trent is sporting a goatee these days:

He art directed that one himself. Such a dude but you gotta love him.

Spacesuits=Happiness

2010-12-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

If I am ever in need of some day-brightening I watch this:

The Blakie Cometh!!!

2010-12-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

Thursday is the big day! Blake will return to the real world. I'll get to actually see him on the 21st when we fly home for Christmas. I'm having a really difficult time not writing all of this in ALLCAPS because I'm that pumped.

This Christmas there will be ALASKA and TRENT and BLAKE and all the rest of MY FAMILY and FRIENDS FROM HOME—THATS IT I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!!!! ALLCAPS EXPLOSION!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!! AHHHHHH!!!

Wishery

2010-11-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

So when you are engaged everybody tells you that even though it seems impossible at the moment you are going to discover little things about your spouse that will drive you insane. Then follows the advice about how not to fight about these little things and find fault with one another. Where I am going with this you may ask? Well as Trent discovered, I have a propensity to sing/listen to/act out my repertoire of Disney Princess Songs—which is quite comprehensive. Especially grating are those Snow White ones. Trent takes it all well and I'm proud to say there have been no arguments as of date. Turns out he does a pretty mean impression himself. I tell you this because I found this amazing song today that samples the fair princess. I heard this first without the video and didn't believe it was actually her until half way through. The video is cute for about 30 seconds but if you get bored just look at something else and enjoy the ingeniousness of the mix.

Now if someone does this to Once Upon A Dream I might be set for life...

I win!

2010-10-25T11:35:00.001-07:00

Okay, stretchy pants update:

The other day Trent and I were at the mall. He noticed that the model in the giant display in the front of Armani Exchange seemed to be wearing my amazing leather-paneled stretch pants that I had wanted from Target. Yes ladies and gentlemen. It seems that you can buy the exact same pants at Armani for $88. I kid you not:

Do I have good taste or what? This weekend my friend Michelle went with me on a mission to find them at target and buy them this time. It took a little searching but there they were, crammed in a clearance rack and 30% off. Whoohoo! They were 20 bucks and I am wearing them right now. Thus ends the saga of the pants.

Shabby Apple Design-o-mania

2010-10-12T19:17:00.001-07:00

Though I love being a graphic designer—really LOVE LOVE LOVE it—I have always is secretly wanted to be a fashion designer too. Maybe it's genetic since my mom's degree in fashion (so awesome). So now I finally get my chance! Here is my dress design for Shabby Apple dresses. Shabby is having their yearly contest and I am officially entering. I combined two of my favorite things; retro silhouettes and big floppy cowl necks. The best part is that this dress can go in a classy direction or funky. check it out:

I could totally wear this to the office. And who isn't crazy about a great purple these days? Or:

A nice conservative silver with a hint of color dip-dyed in the hem. Buisness on top party on the bottom. Wow that sounds unnecessarily trashy. Martha Stewart Living just did a story on dip die though so we know that can't be the case. That cowl allows the dress to be worn a number of ways and I've always thought there is a serious shortage of elbow length sleeves in the world. What do you guys think?

Oh and it has pockets! I almost forgot the pockets! Big ones that you can actually fit your phone in. And because that 40's skirt is so full nobody will ever know! Ha! Got the rest of you unbelievers. No one can resist good pockets.

I heart NY

2010-10-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I stop realize what my walk home looks like. I still get all giddy inside because I work in New York! Life is good.

coding makes me feel like this

2010-10-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

It's like trying to write a five paragraph essay in math only It takes forever and one tiny typo can destroy your entire layout. For those of you that know how well I spell you get the picture. Besides the spelling thing it's just hard for someone who has trained her brain to think outside the box. You suddenly have to live in box world and it's not a nice place. But regardless of these minor setbacks I WIN!

The new version of my website is officially live! Now all of you can see what I spent the last three years of my life working on. Except for my final project which I'm still trying to figure out how to post but never fear! I'll figure out something...hopefully...anybody out there know how to embed swf files in css?

Whatever. Having it (mostly) done and working makes me feel like this:

I hope it makes you feel that way too!

Acoustical Liberation!

2010-09-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

LibriVox is a website that makes audio versions of public domain books available to anyone for FREE! It's amazing. And their slogan is "acoustical liberation of books in the public domain". If that doesn't make you want to rage against the publishing industry machine I don't know what will. You won't find any New York Times Bestsellers but there are definitely some oldies but goodies. Is acoustical even a word?

House of the Rising Sun COVER

2010-09-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

This song might possibly change your life with it's face-melting organ solo. Just saying.

House of the Rising Sun by RESONANT SOUL

Beware of the Hair

2010-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm itching to work "scare" and "dare" into this first sentence but I'll spare you. It's official! My first publication as Assistant Art Director is out! Now you too can know more than you ever wanted to know about pumpkin carving. My favorite part is that tower of blond bouffant. I've got to hand it to Martha, not everyone could handle that much wig.

shopping sucks when you are poor

2010-09-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

As many of my fellow students/recent grads could probably tell you; shopping sucks when you are poor. Or maybe, more accurately, loving to shop really sucks when you are poor. Take this weekend for example; having suppressed the need to shop for so long, I exploded into a frenzy when we visited Target this weekend. Even though I knew we couldn't actually make purchases I found a little relief in piling things into the cart or walking around with them for awhile. It was sad. And to make matters worse all the back to school stuff was out and I was finding fistfuls of things I liked. Mind you I'm picky so finding stuff I like well enough to buy doesn't happen every time. Alas in the end I was responsible and got two work appropriate things. What I really wanted was these leggings though.

YES they are faux leather AND spandex AT THE SAME TIME. If I were a superhero, these are exactly what I would wear. And I would look fabulous. It took all of my self control to not buy them so I could look superhero-fabulous every day. And I almost regret it still. I'm writing this eulogy for them as therapy. Maybe I should start a fabulous leggings fund. Any contributors?

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

2010-08-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

So we splurged and went to see a movie this weekend. We just couldn't stand to wait any longer because every time a preview for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World came on we both loled. Yes I just used lol as a verb. It's sarcastic. Anyways, it's only been out a few weeks but I could only find two theaters in our area playing it and the times were the super lame ones in the early afternoons. Not a good sign. We persevered.

Holy Cow. I think they made that movie for Trent and I and I think that's why it has seemingly flopped. We cracked up pretty much any time one of the characters opened their mouths and often even when there was no dialog involved. It was a little uncomfortable even because there were about 20 people in the theater and often we were the only ones laughing. And we were laughing really hard. Like borderline making embarrassing noises hard. It was brilliant! No words can describe the awesomeness thereof. You can watch a trailer here though.

Afterwords we decided you just have to be a hardcore child of the 90's to get it. And maybe a little on the dweeby side with a love for comic books and punk rock. Seriously. The Zelda references abounded. I guess we are just the right kind of dweebs.

Possibly my favorite thing ever...

2010-08-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

Forget the cat. I want one of these.

Eggs from Martha's Farm

2010-08-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile Martha brings eggs from her hens into the office. They are Araucana hens and the eggs can be a range of colors from brown to blue. The were beautiful but we devoured them anyway. Here's the evidence—and yes ladies, that hair is for real. No fair eh? He just wakes up like that!

Font Shop Project liiiives!

2010-08-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

Another of our class projects from last year is live. Check it out here. It's meant to be an introduction to typography for students that are just starting out. We played with a relationship metaphor—it's titled "Meet Your Type." I would have loved to have this three years ago. Turned out pretty fun! The page above was especially my baby. :)

Typophile Film Festival 5

2009-09-09T18:16:00.001-07:00

Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles from Brent Barson on Vimeo.

It's done! Here's the final version of the intro we did for the Typofile film festival this year. It's the fifth year, hence the five senses. Everything was done with real tangible type and stop motion. Yes. We are that hardcore.

Rocket World Contest

2009-08-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

Check out these sweet sweatshirts. I love them.

http://www.notcot.com/archives/2009/08/help_rocketworl.php#more

Shatner Does Palin

2009-07-30T13:41:00.001-07:00

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

I'm sorry but I just found this too funny....and strangely moving....

Anniversary Number One

2009-07-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Trent wanted to surprise me with our anniversary present so it's a little late, but it makes up for that in pure awesomeness. The extremely rad packaging holds one song composed and performed by Max Bemis of Say Anything (one of my favorite bands!) especially for our anniversary! Thanks Max! Trent enlisted Michelle to help him with the design, which was perfect. Yay for people who understand my love for big stacky type! Oh and you can't really tell from the picture, but it even came shrink wrapped. HOW COOL IS THAT!? It was totally legit. And the sweetest gift I've ever recieved. Oh and don't let me forget, the song is adorible. I cried.

Thanks Trent! You are my favorite husband ever!

Happy 4th

2009-07-05T17:39:00.001-07:00

We headed to Coney island to watch the hot dog eating contest this weekend...we lost our appetite for hot dogs after that. Thanks to Michelle for the cute picture.

Emril Grills For The Interns

2009-07-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

This tuesday Emril showed us how to grill on the MSLO roof deck! All I have to say is mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Good Parts

2009-06-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend has probably been the best out here. Friday we went to a concert in Prospect park in Brooklyn. Blonde Readhead was playing and the outdoor venue was gorgeous (after the bout of rain of course). Saturday we rode the ferry over to Governor's Island where they were having an art show all around the island. We rented bikes and had so much fin riding around that we skipped most of the exhibits. We did see a giant (no really it was massive) wind chime. It was tuned to the tritone, which in the middle ages was considered demonic. No demons on the island though, only awesomeness.
Afterwards we headed up to peir 17 on Manhattan island and got there right in time to get awesome seats to the free performance by the New York City Opera! The symphony was incredible and the vocal talent was out of control. AND to make things ever more perfect, they performed selections from a bunch of different operas. Pretty much we just got to see all the good parts.
I think that summs up the weekend really well actually. All the good parts of New York.

Bryant Park +Christy

2009-06-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend my cousin Christy was here visiting from new york. Our weekend included Bryant Park, which was stunning! This is where they hold fashion week! The sunset through the buildings was gorgeous.

Becca Gets Married!

2009-06-16T19:10:00.001-07:00

I was in Alaska this last weekend for Becca Lambs wedding. It was gorgeous, she was gorgeous, heck even Chris looked pretty amazing. It was awesome to be able to be there. Did I mention that Alaska was gorgeous too?

Gloria Falls Asleep on the Subway

2009-06-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

She looks so peaceful!

I MET HER!

2009-06-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

I met Martha yesterday. She was very nice and down to earth. It was exciting!

Martha Stewart Orientation

2009-06-02T17:07:00.000-07:00

I had my Orientation with Martha Stewart Omnimedia yesterday and started my first day as an intern today. We started out in the TV studio and ended up at a pizza party of the new Starrett Lehigh Building. It was everything Martha Stewart should be. Everyone was excited and happy to meet us and so hospitible. But what else would you expect from the Queen of Entertaining?

The building was formerly a factory that has since been gutted and filled with glass paneled offices. They kept all te original windows and built this porch on the top. The view looks out over the Hudson River and Chelsea Piers. It's fabulous! Check out the potted plants! So Zen.

And my favorite...

Yes, the entire rest of the building is as put together. I mean how could it not with all kinds of great stuff everywhere!? There is a great atmosphere of creativity and industry but the people are all really down to earth and great to work with. After some fabulous pizza and sun they sent us cheerfully off to our art directors with goodie bags.

HE HE

2008-11-16T18:47:00.001-08:00

Couldn't find the artist on this.

McDonald's and Minimalism?

2008-11-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

McDonald's recently opened a new line of burger joints in Japan that are RADICALLY different than your usual crappy plastic seats and sticky floors we are all used to. Apparently in Japan farmed beef is considered a luxury food with energizing properties. It heightens sex appeal as well. Who knew. Regardless of the reasoning I think we will all agree the new look is beautiful. Streamlined, modern and high end. Wow I can't believe I just used those three words in conjunction with McDonald's. It seems so bizarre. Anyways, take a look for yourself.

Robot Spotted Kicking the Trash out of Arial and Papyrus

2008-11-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

So I'm officially terrible at this whole blog thing. It seems kinda intimidating to sit down and write a witty and informative discourse on the state of the world every day. To try and fix my scared stiff state I'm deciding to take a page out of my friend Michelle's blog (Made Sweet) and just keep it simple. I'll put up some awesome stuff I find and we can all just be happy looking at it. Wheew now that the pressure is off I feel soooo much better! Thanks guys. I guess I just needed someone to talk to.

Oh yeah about the picture. So cute and so clever and probably taking way too much time: Helbotica made from everybody's favorite Helvetica. Besides Arialbotica would just not be as cool. Or as well kerned.

IKEA: saving the universe one cinder block at a time

2008-08-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

As a couple of newlywed students we've recently rented one of the wonderful 1960's era—not in a good way—on-campus apartments. Among its many charms are whitewashed cinder block walls, all florescent lighting, squeaky yet scratchy industrial multicolored carpeting and the ever popular curtain-rod-instead-of-a-closet-door feature. No microwave. No dishwasher. Oh and you have to hike two miles uphill both ways to get to the laundry facility.

Okay, so that last part was a little bit of an exaggeration. We are very happy to be able to live so close to campus. The situation isn't all bad. In fact, we have a grand total of six closets as opposed to the one we have now. Six closets amends many evils. As the resident designer (no pun intended) my trusty sidekick Trent and I set about making this dismal situation into a home that we will enjoy coming back to after a long day.

Enter IKEA

Yes that's in all caps I-K-E-A. Knoll International meets Walmart. Scandinavian design for the masses. Even students like us can starve for a week and afford a really amazing bedroom set. We are in the midst of the moderately grueling—especially if drawers are involved—set up process. Here is the point where I would insert pictures but as my camera is dead you'll just have to imagine lots of parts and bags full of tiny screws and oddly shaped plastic pieces. Pictures of the finished product are forthcoming.